Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance writer, philosopher, and statesman from Florence, Italy. He is best known for his political treatise, The Prince, which is a manual for rulers on how to gain and maintain political power. Machiavelli's works are still studied and discussed today for their insights into the human condition and the political environment of the Renaissance. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Niccolo Machiavelli on power, politics, religion.
The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles
Power is the pivot on which everything hinges. He who has the power is always right; the weaker is always wrong.
....nothing is so unhealthy or unstable as the reputation for power that is not based on one's own power. — Niccolo Machiavelli
....it cannot be called ingenuity to kill one's fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; by these means one can aquire power but not glory. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself; for that power is produced by him either through craft or force; and both of these are suspected by the one who has been raised to power. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prince ought to have two fears, one from within, on account of his subjects, the other from without, on account of external powers. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Whoever is the cause of another becoming powerful, is ruined himself. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For a prince should have two fears: one, internal concerning his subjects; the other, external, concerning foreign powers. From the latter he can always defend himself by his good troops and friends; and he will always have good friends if he has good troops. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The state is not an organism capable of bringing either moral or material improvements to the populace...but merely a vehicle of power for the men and party in power. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Politics
Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Politics have no relation to morals. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The innovator has for enemies all who have done well under the old, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. — Niccolo Machiavelli
....for friendships that are acquired by a price and not by greatness and nobility of character are purchased but are not owned, and at the proper moment they cannot be spent. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to enslave a people that wants to remain free. — Niccolo Machiavelli
....those who become princes through their skill acquire the pricipality with difficulty, buy they hold onto it with ease. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Rome remained free for four hundred years and Sparta eight hundred, although their citizens were armed all that time; but many other states that have been disarmed have lost their liberties in less than forty years. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Government
A wise prince will seek means by which his subjects will always and in every possible condition of things have need of his government, and then they will always be faithful to him. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Thus it happens in matters of state; for knowing afar off (which it is only given a prudent man to do) the evils that are brewing, they are easily cured. But when, for want of such knowledge, they are allowed to grow so that everyone can recognize them, there is no longer any remedy to be found. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For government consists in nothing else but so controlling subjects that they shall neither be able to, nor have cause to do [it] harm. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A government which does not trust its citizens to be armed is not itself to be trusted. — Niccolo Machiavelli
All the States and Governments by which men are or ever have been ruled, have been and are either Republics or Princedoms. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Leadership
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Love
it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved. — Niccolo Machiavelli
From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Therefore the best fortress is to be found in the love of the people, for although you may have fortresses they will not save you if you are hated by the people. — Niccolo Machiavelli
One can say this in general of men: they are ungrateful, disloyal, insincere and deceitful, timid of danger and avid of profit...Love is a bond of obligation that these miserable creatures break whenever it suits them to do so; but fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. — Niccolo Machiavelli
My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Is it better to be loved or feared? — Niccolo Machiavelli
To be feared is much safer then to be loved. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, religious, and also to be so; but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Change has no constituency. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For one change always leaves a dovetail into which another will fit. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There is nothing so difficult or so dangerous as to undertake to change the order of things. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For this is the tragedy of man circumstances change, but he does not. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About War
There is nothing as likely to succeed as what the enemy believes you cannot attempt. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is simply unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prudent man... must behave like those archers who, if they are skillful, when the target seems too distant, know the capabilities of their bow and aim a good deal higher than their objective, not in order to shoot so high but so that by aiming high they can reach the target. — Niccolo Machiavelli
You must know, then, that there are two methods of fighting, the one by law, the other by force: the first method is that of men, the second of beasts; but as the first method is often insufficient, one must have recourse to the second. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Although deceit is detestable in all other things, yet in the conduct of war it is laudable and honorable; and a commander who vanquishes an enemy by stratagem is equally praised with one who gains victory by force. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Few men are brave by nature, but good discipline and experience make many so. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A battle that you win cancels any other bad action of yours. In the same way, by losing one, all the good things worked by you before become vain. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Prince
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is necessary that the prince should know how to color his nature well, and how to be a hypocrite and dissembler. For men are so simple, and yield so much to immediate necessity, that the deceiver will never lack dupes. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A wise prince then...should never be idle in times of peace but should industriously lay up stores of which to avail himself in times of adversity so that when fortune abandons him he may be prepared to resist her blows. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is a foolish prince who entrusts the safety of his lands to hired men. — Niccolo Machiavelli
As the observance of divine institutions is the cause of the greatness of republics, so the disregard of them produces their ruin; for where the fear of God is wanting, there the country will come to ruin, unless it be sustained the fear of the prince, which temporarily supply the want of religion. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prince who is not himself wise cannot be wisely advised. . . . Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who seeks it, and not the shrewdness of the prince on good advice. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Feared
Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Speaking generally, men are ungrateful, fickle, hypocritical, fearful odanger and covetous ogain. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Without doubt, ferocious and disordered men are much weaker than timid and ordered ones. For order chases fear from men and disorder lessens ferocity. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Fear is secured by a dread of punishment. — Niccolo Machiavelli
No one should therefore fear that he cannot accomplish what others have accomplished, for, men are born, live, and die in quite the same way they always have. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Never lead your soldiers to battle if you have not first confirmed their spirit and known them to be without fear and ordered; and never test them except when you see that they hope to win. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prince need trouble little about conspiracies when the people are well disposed, but when they are hostile and hold him in hatred, then he must fear everything and everybody. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Knowing how to fight made men more bold, because no one fears doing what it seems to him he has learned to do. Therefore, the ancients wanted their citizens to be trained in every warlike action. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he will have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any danger in other reproaches. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About State
Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It should be noted that when he seizes a state the new ruler ought to determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He should inflict them once and for all, and not have to renew them every day. — Niccolo Machiavelli
States that rise quickly, just as all the other things of nature that are born and grow rapidly, cannot have roots and ramifications; the first bad weather kills them. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Quotes About Ruler
The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A wise ruler should rely on what is under his own control, not on what is under the control of others. — Niccolo Machiavelli
(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli Famous Quotes And Sayings
You know better than I that in a Republic talent is always suspect. A man attains an elevated position only when his mediocrity prevents him from being a threat to others. And for this reason a democracy is never governed by the most competent, but rather by those whose insignificance will not jeopardize anyone else's self-esteem. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. — Niccolo Machiavelli
If you only notice human proceedings, you may observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either force or fraud; and what they have acquired either by deceit or violence, in order to conceal the disgraceful methods of attainment, they endeavor to sanctify with the false title of honest gains. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively; another understands so far as it is explained; and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. — Niccolo Machiavelli
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. — Niccolo Machiavelli
When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil. — Niccolo Machiavelli
No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution. — Niccolo Machiavelli
How we live is so different from how we ought to live that he who studies what ought to be done rather than what is done will learn the way to his downfall rather than to his preservation. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are. — Niccolo Machiavelli
One must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves — Niccolo Machiavelli
I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. — Niccolo Machiavelli
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain. — Niccolo Machiavelli
the wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great, and imitate those who have most excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour. — Niccolo Machiavelli
It is often found that modesty and humility not only do no good, but are positively hurtful, when they are shown to the arrogant who have taken up a prejudice against you, either from envy or from any other cause. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair. — Niccolo Machiavelli
He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present. — Niccolo Machiavelli
When fortune wishes to bring mighty events to a successful conclusion, she selects some man of spirit and ability who knows how to seize the opportunity she offers. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt. — Niccolo Machiavelli
I hold strongly to this: that it is better to be impetuous than circumspect; because fortune is a woman and if she is to be submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her. — Niccolo Machiavelli
If the chief party, whether it be the people, or the army, or the nobility, which you think most useful and of most consequence to you for the conservation of your dignity, be corrupt, you must follow their humor and indulge them, and in that case honesty and virtue are pernicious. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Impetuosity and audacity often achieve what ordinary means fail to achieve. — Niccolo Machiavelli
God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces. — Niccolo Machiavelli
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content. — Niccolo Machiavelli
For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion — Niccolo Machiavelli
When you disarm your subjects, however, you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you. — Niccolo Machiavelli
You do not know the unfathomable cowardice of humanity...servile in the face of force, pitiless in the face of weakness, implacable before blunders, indulgent before crimes...and patient to the point of martyrdom before all the violences of bold despotism. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A wise man will see to it that his acts always seem voluntary and not done by compulsion, however much he may be compelled by necessity. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example. — Niccolo Machiavelli
I believe that it is possible for one to praise, without concern, any man after he is dead since every reason and supervision for adulation is lacking. — Niccolo Machiavelli
One arises from a low to a high station more often by using fraud instead of force. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Good order makes men bold, and confusion, cowards. — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prince must be prudent enough to know how to escape the bad reputation of those vices that would lose the state for him, and must protect himself from those that will not lose it for him, if this is possible; but if he cannot, he need not concern himself unduly if he ignores these less serious vices. — Niccolo Machiavelli
So in all human affairs one notices, if one examines them closely, that it is impossible to remove one inconvenience without another emerging. — Niccolo Machiavelli
And it will always happen that he who is not your friend will request your neutrality and he who is your friend will ask you to declare yourself by taking up arms. And irresolute princes, in order to avoid present dangers, follow the neutral road most of the time, and most of the time they are ruined. — Niccolo Machiavelli
I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Those who either from imprudence or want of sagacity avoid doing so, are always overwhelmed with servitude and poverty; for faithful servants are always servants, and honest men are always poor; nor do any ever escape from servitude but the bold and faithless, or from poverty, but the rapacious and fraudulent. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad. — Niccolo Machiavelli
He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation. — Niccolo Machiavelli
God creates men, but they choose each other. — Niccolo Machiavelli
To ensure victory the troops must have confidence in themselves as well as in their commanders. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Before all else, be armed. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Delusion gives you more happiness than truth gives to me. For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer. — Niccolo Machiavelli
There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few. — Niccolo Machiavelli
The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. — Niccolo Machiavelli
God and nature have thrown all human fortunes into the midst of mankind; and they are thus attainable rather by rapine than by industry, by wicked actions rather than by good. Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot defend themselves must be worried. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas in antiquity. — Niccolo Machiavelli
One can generally say this about men: that they are ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain; and while you work for their good they are completely yours, offering you their blood, their property, their lives, and their sons when danger is far away; but when it comes nearer to you, they turn away. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Life Lessons by Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli taught that it is important to be prepared for any situation and to be flexible in order to achieve success.
He also emphasized the need for strong leadership and the importance of understanding the motivations of others.
Finally, Machiavelli argued that it is important to be aware of the consequences of one's actions and to be willing to take risks in order to achieve one's goals.
Citation
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